CHAMPIONS Manchester City head into the new season aiming to emulate a feat which only Manchester United and Chelsea have done — retain the championship in the Premier League era.

Unlike two years ago, Manuel Pellegrini’s side look more than capable of ensuring the title remains in the blue half of Manchester.

The Chilean has strengthened his already strong squad with some very shrewd additions.

Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has joined up with his former manager at Spanish side Malaga and is expected to provide stiff competition for current No 1 Joe Hart, with speculation in the media hinting that the England international could begin the season on the bench.

Experienced defender Bacary Sagna has swapped London for Manchester and will challenge Pablo Zabaleta for the right-back spot, although the Frenchman has shown his versatility for Arsenal over the years and can comfortably slot into any position across the back four.

A move for Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala is expected to be completed before the close of the transfer window and will be seen as a potential centre-back partner for captain Vincent Kompany, with concerns over Martin Demichelis being able to handle the demands of another full season at age 33.

At one point over the summer it looked as if talisman Yaya Toure was about to storm out of Eastlands in a strop over not getting a birthday cake.

But now the Ivorian has committed his long-term future to the club.

Boosted by that, more depth has been added in the form of Brazilian defensive midfielder Fernando — arriving from Porto for a reported £12 million — and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, on an odd six-month loan from sister club New York City.

Sergio Aguero and Steven Jovetic will be hoping to avoid injuries that disrupted their last term, but unfortunately Alvaro Negredo has already been ruled out for at least two months after breaking his fifth metatarsal in a friendly against Hearts.

In a decidedly mixed bag of pre-season games a couple of big results were overshadowed by penalty losses against Liverpool and Olympiakos.

And yesterday’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield was hardly an ideal precursor to the campaign.

Expectations are sure to be high on the back of last season — nabbing a second title in three years, winning the League Cup and progressing into the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time ever.

But a visit to Newcastle is swiftly followed by games against the rest of last season’s top four.

That said, City have one of the strongest squads — on paper at least — so it’s not hard to see them lifting the trophy next May.